Cambridge Researchers Receive £7.5 Million to Develop Programmable Plants with Enhanced Traits

Cambridge researchers have been awarded a significant £7.5 million in funding by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) to embark on groundbreaking projects aimed at building programmable plants. These initiatives promise to revolutionize agriculture and address pressing global challenges, including climate change, malnutrition, and environmental sustainability. At the heart of these efforts is a dual-project strategy: one focusing on creating the world's first artificial plant chromosome and the other on developing synthetic chloroplasts. Both projects are set to push the boundaries of plant synthetic biology and offer a radical new approach to enhancing plant capabilities. Artificial Plant Chromosome Project Professor Jake Harris, Head of the Chromatin and Memory group, leads the team that received £6.5 million to construct the world’s first artificial plant chromosome. The ambitious goal is to design and create an entirely new chromosome, rather than modifying an existing one, and integrate it into living plants. This synthetic chromosome could endow plants with new traits, such as drought tolerance and pest resistance, making them more resilient and productive. The chosen platform for initial development and testing is the moss Physcomitrium patens, known for its exceptional genetic malleability. Once successful, the team plans to introduce the synthetic chromosome into potato plants, which are economically significant and widely consumed crops. Harris highlights the transformative potential of this project: "We're building the tools to make plants programmable, just like software. This synthetic chromosome could one day help grow crops that are more productive, more resilient, and better for the planet." The technology could also extend to growing food and medicines in space and enhancing indoor agriculture, expanding the horizons of what plants can do for humanity. Synthetic Chloroplasts Project The second project, spearheaded by Professor Alison Smith and Dr. Paweł Mordaka from the Plant Metabolism group, has been awarded nearly £1 million. Their focus is on engineering synthetic chloroplasts that can enable plants to fix atmospheric nitrogen and produce vitamin B12, two critical processes that could greatly reduce the reliance on chemical fertilizers and combat nutritional deficiencies. Building on their previous success with the single-cell alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, where they designed and built its entire chloroplast genome, the team now aims to transfer this technology to potato plants. If successful, these synthetic chloroplasts could significantly mitigate agricultural pollution and promote more sustainable farming practices. Smith emphasizes the profound implications: "Our success would unlock powerful applications in agriculture, like plants capable of nitrogen fixation or producing essential nutrients like vitamin B12, potentially reducing fertiliser dependence and addressing malnutrition. These traits have tremendous potential should they be engineered into plants." Both projects leverage international collaborations, bringing together experts from The University of Western Australia, biotech company Phytoform Labs, and the Australian Genome Foundry at Macquarie University, among others. This collaborative approach is crucial for tackling the complexity and scale of the challenge. Unique Funding Approach The funding from ARIA represents a departure from traditional research funding models. ARIA adopted a unique method by engaging the synthetic biology community to identify high-impact, high-risk projects that could redefine agriculture. Harris explains, "ARIA had a couple of events with synthetic biologists to look at what’s on the edge of possible, what could be useful as a moonshot approach that could really change things." This participatory approach catalyzed innovative thinking and aligned the projects with real-world needs. Harris adds, "It’s a totally different way of seeing things. We went from ‘here’s what we want to see in the world’ to ‘how are we going to get there?’ It catalysed a different team and a different way of thinking." Potential Impact The development of these technologies could drastically reduce the time required to bring new crop varieties to market. While it currently takes approximately eight years to develop a new crop variety in the UK, the programmable plant technology aims to shorten this process to just one year or even less. This accelerated timeline is comparable to the transformative impact of protein-folding technologies like AlphaFold on drug discovery. Synthetic biology has already demonstrated its potential in healthcare, and applying it to plant science could yield similar breakthroughs. By tailoring plant traits at a molecular level, scientists can create crops that are better adapted to harsh conditions, produce higher yields, and require fewer resources. This shift could be crucial in ensuring global food security in the face of climate change. Industry Evaluation and Company Profiles Industry insiders view these projects with optimism and cautious excitement. Dr. Jane Thompson, a senior scientist at Phytoform Labs, notes, "The potential of synthetic plant chromosomes and chloroplasts is enormous. If successful, this could usher in a new era of precision agriculture, where crops are specifically designed to meet both environmental and nutritional challenges." Phytoform Labs, a key collaborator, is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture. Their expertise in gene editing and synthetic biology aligns well with the goals of the Cambridge projects, aiming to engineer plants with enhanced functionalities. ARIA's investment in these high-risk, high-reward projects underscores the agency's commitment to fostering groundbreaking research and innovation in the UK. The potential outcomes—sustainable crop varieties, reduced agricultural pollution, and improved food nutrition—could have far-reaching benefits for global agriculture and the environment.